Sealing mechanism for slidable doors



April 30, 1940- D. c. E. LEONARD 199,160

SEALING MECHANISM FOR SLIDABLE DOORS Fiied Sept. 14, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 a a 5 i 7 3mm.-

A aril 30, 1940. I p. c. E. LEONARD v 2,199,160

SEALING MECHANISM FOR SLIDABLE DOORS Filed Sept. 14, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 30, 1940 PATENT OFFICE SEALING IVIEGHANISM FOR SLIDABLE' DOORS David (7. E. Leonard, Hagerstown, Md., assignor to Jamison Cold Storage Door Company, Hagerstown, Md a corporation of-Maryland ApplicationScptember 14, 1938, Serial No; 229,962

3 Claims.

The invention relates generally to sliding door equipments, and more particularly to certain new and useful improvements in supporting, guiding and sealingmechanism for doors of the horizontally-slidable type employed in refrigerating and cold storage equipment.

- Among the objects of the invention is to provide novel means for supporting and guiding the door and for moving it intofand out of sealing contact lu-z over the opening which it serves including roller I supported hangers and means for supporting. the door on the hangers comprising a shaft rockably supported on the hangers and including eccentric portions rockable in bearings secured upon 15. the door to simultaneously lift the door and move it outwardly away from said opening, or lower the door and move it inwardly into sealing contact over said opening.

Another object of the invention is to provide 20, novel means for imparting rocking movement to said shaft.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel camming devices for forcing the lower edge portion into sealing contact over the opening g5 which it serves as the door is being lowered into sealing contact as aforesaid.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel auxiliary cam lever equipment effective upon lowering of the door to clamp the upper edge portion of the door in. sealing relation overv the opening which it serves, and upon lifting of said door to relieve said clamped relation.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature ofv theinvention will be more fully understood by following 'the detailed description, theappended claims, and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a face view illustrating a horizontally slidable door equipment embodying the in-' vention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary face view of the left hand portion of the door equipment, parts being broken away and in section,

Figure 3 is a vertical cross section taken on the line 3-3 on Figure 2, the door being shown in sealing contact in full lines, and relieved from sealing contact in dotted lines.

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken through one of the door edge supporting eccentric portions of the rock shaft.

In the drawings, the doorway served by the horizontally slidable door 9 forming the subject matter of my present invention is generally in- (CI. 20+24) I .dicatedat 5. The opening 6 served by the door is illustratedas defined by-"angle irons 1, and the sill or floor over which the door'slides and upon whichit rests in sealing contact is indicated at 8.

The door 9 is relatively flat and rectangular in shape and may be constructed in any suitable manner, preferably including suitable insulating material. Around all four edges engageable with the opening defining angle irons l, the door is equipped with suitable gasket material I0, and suitable gasket material H is provided at the lower floor or sill engaging edge of the door.

An abutment bracket I2 is secured to or embedded in the floor in position for opposing each lowercorner of the door, and each bracket includes a downwardly and inwardly inclined camming surface l3. These-camming surfaces are engageable with similar camming surfaces I4 provided on bracket members l5 secured to the lower corners-0f the door in position for opposing the brackets l2' whenever the door is registered over the opening '6 in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 2of the drawings. Above the door a supporting rail or track I6 is mounted in suitable brackets l'l fixed over the doorway in the manner illustrated in Figures 1 and 3' of the drawings. Anchor brackets l8 partially embrace the rail l6 and have mounted thereon anti-friction rollers [9 which ride on theupper edge of the rail 16. The brackets 18 extend below the rail l6 and include horizontal ledge portions 20 from which bearing members 21' are adjustably suspended, as indicated at 22. See Figures 3 and 4.

Suitable stops 23 project outwardly" from the rail It in position for being engaged by the anchor brackets l8, and a pair of suohstops may be employed, to stop movement. of the door when it has. become properly registered with the opening which it serves, and to stop. movement. of the door after it has been moved to completely expose said door opening.

A shaft 24 .is rockably supported in the suspended bearings '2l and is secured against longiand is pivotally and adjustably connected as at 32 to the free end of a crank member 33 secured to a shaft 34 rockably supported in a bracket 35 secured to the outer face of the door. A handle or lever 36 is secured to the shaft 34, and by employing this lever the shaft 34 can be rocked for the purpose of imparting rocking movement to the shaft 24 through the medium of the connecting link 3! It will be noted by reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings that the axes of eccentricity of the stud extensions 21 are normally disposed directly beneath the axis of the shaft 24. The relation of the parts is such that with the stud extensions in this position the ,door 9 is lowered into a position for forcing the sealing gasket ll. against the floor or sill 8 and rests at its innermost position with the sealing gaskets II] in tight contact with the opening defining angle irons l.

When the'lever 36 is swung from the full line position illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings to the dotted line position illustrated in Figure 3, rocking movement is imparted to the shaft 24 which serves to swing the stud extensions 21 outwardly and upwardly, lifting the door out of contact with the floor or sill 8 and freeing the gaskets ill from sealing contact with the angle irons l, as illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 3.

Each hanger l8 includes a pair of spaced bearing ears 31 between which a cam lever 38 is pivotally supported. It will be noted by reference to Figure 3 of the drawings that the levers 33 are. pivoted intermediate their ends. At their outer ends these levers are connected by rods 39 to brackets 40 fixedly secured to the upper corners of the door. At their inner ends these levers are equipped with cam noses 4| which are movable into or out of contact with the lower edge of the rail l6 accordingly as the door is lowered or elevated by manipulation of the hand lever 36. By reason of the fixed connection of the rods 39 at 40, when the door is lifted it will move the outer ends of the lever 38 upwardly, freeing the cam noses 4| from engagement with the rail. When the door is lowered the levers 38 will be moved in the reverse direction and the cam noses will engage the lower edge of the rail l6 and exert a camming pressure effective to force the upper edge of the door into tight sealing contact with the upper edge of the door opening.

A bearing strip 42 is secured along the lower outer edge of the door and is engageable with anti-friction rollers 43 mounted in the respective brackets I2. I

While I have referred herein to doors of the type employed in refrigerating and cold storage equipment, it is to be understood that doors of the nature of those herein disclosed are. adapta able to use as closures for any rooms or spaces wherein it is desired to maintain high, low or even temperatures by the provision of substantially air-tight closures. Among such uses are those relating to refrigerating, heating, drying, incubation, fumigation, and air conditioning.

It will be noted that the specific structure and details herein described can be variously changed without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, a frame including top and side members defining a door opening, a door sill in front of said frame, a door disposed in front of said frame and. slidable into and out of register with said opening, said door having a gasket means along the top and sides thereof adapted to engage the front of the door frame, and a gasket at the lower edge thereof adapted to engage the sill, a stationary horizontal track, and means for suspending the door from the track for movement therealong into and out of register with said opening, said door suspending means including devices operable for simultaneously lifting the door from the sill and swinging it outward from contact with the door frame, and operable for simultaneously moving said door into sealing contact with the sill and sealing contact with the door frame for closing said opening.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a frame including top and side members defining a door opening, a door sill in front of said frame, a door disposed in front of said frame and slidable into and out of register with said opening, said door having a gasket means along the top and sides thereof adapted to engage the front of the door frame, and a gasket at the lower side thereof adapted to engage the sill, a stationary horizontal track, and means for suspending the door from the track for movement therealong into and out of register with said opening, said door suspending means including devices operable for simultaneously lifting the door from the sill and swinging it outward from contact with the door. frame, and operable for simultaneously moving said door into sealing contact with the sill and sealing contact with the door frame for closing said opening, and a camming means engaging the door at the lower portion thereof when said door is closed for forcing the door into tight sealing contact with the frame.

3. In an apparatus of the character described, a frame including top and side members defining a door opening, a door sill in front of said frame, a door disposed in front of said frame and slidable into and out of register with said opening, said door having a gasket means along the top and sides thereof adapted to engage the front of the door frame, and a gasket at the lower edge thereof adapted to engage the sill, a stationary horizontal track, and means for suspending the door from the track for movement therealong into and out of register with said opening, said door suspending means including devices operable for simultaneously lifting the door from the sill and swinging it outward from contact with the door frame, and operable for simultaneously moving said door into sealing contact with the sill and sealing contact with the door frame for closing said opening, and a camming means at the upper portion of the door for forcing said door when closed into tight sealing contact with the frame.

. DAVID C. E. LEONARD. 

